Smart-Home Penetration Could Double In A Year, Survey Finds

Smart-home ownership could double to 30 million households in the next year, if a survey commissioned by August Home and Comcast Xfinity Home is any indication.

The survey of almost 1,300 consumers found that 12 percent of homes without a smart-home product are likely or very likely to buy one in the next 12 months. That would expand household penetration to 30 million homes, or 24 percent of the 124.6 million households in the U.S. at the end of 2015, the companies said.

The survey also found that the percentage of households likely to buy jumps to 56 percent among households that already have at least one smart-home product. In all, almost 18 percent of all respondents said they were likely or very likely to buy a smart-home product in the next 12 months.

What they’ll buy, use: As for what purchase intenders plan to buy, 40 percent said they’d be most likely to buy a connected camera, followed by a video doorbell at 26 percent, a connected light bulb at 19 percent, and a smart lock at 13 percent.

Among households that already use at least one smart-home product, 62 percent have an Internet-connected camera, 54 percent control lights, 54 percent control thermostats and 49 percent control smart locks. (See below.)

Demographic divergence: People ages 30 to 44 led the way on intended adoption, with 25 percent indicating they were planning to buy in the next year. Men showed a slightly higher interest at 19 percent, compared with 15 percent of women.

High-income consumers showed the strongest interest, with almost 40 percent of those making more than $200,000 planning to buy a smart-home product over the next year.

Differences also emerged between purchase intenders who own a security system and those who don’t. Among security-owning purchase intenders, 64 percent said smartphone monitoring of their home is one of the features they want, while only 50 percent of non-security owners expressed such an interest.

As for Internet-connected video cameras, 58 percent of security owners expressed an interest, and 53 percent without a security system expressed an interest. Likewise, 44 percent of security owners were interested in speaking from remote locations to someone at their front door, compared with 38 percent of non-owners.

Interest in controlling lights split almost evenly, with 40 percent of security owners interested and 39 percent on non-owners interested. Interest in controlling lights was also split almost evenly, with 39 percent of security owners interested and 40 percent of non-owners interested.

Letting service people in: The survey also found that only 28 percent of respondents are likely or extremely likely to remotely unlock the front door for a service professional, with 29 percent saying they are unsure. When consumers ranked which home-service providers they would be most comfortable letting into their house, housecleaners and dog walkers ranked higher than package-delivery or on-demand service delivery employees from companies such as Instacart or Postmates.

The survey was conducted by NextMarket Insights for August Home, the supplier of smart door locks and doorbell cameras, and for Comcast Xfinity Home home-management services.